It is known to provide vehicle rear seats in which the seat cushions are adapted for upward tilting movement about a front edge and wherein the seat back is of the split type and is tiltable from a normal position to a fold-away position for increasing the cargo space of the vehicle. These types of rear seat arrangements are generally known in the art and Hamatani et al 4,475,763 issued Oct. 9, 1984 is an example.
In this prior art rear seat arrangement, the seat cushion as well as the seat back are adapted for tilting movement about a transverse axis. Each seat back portion is pivotally mounted to the vehicle floor and is provided near its upper edge with a pin adapted for latching engagement with a catch provided on the side of the vehicle. In present day vehicles provided with rear seat shoulder belts, the seat belt straps extend laterally of the seat back portions and in close proximity of the seat back latching mechanisms. Consequently, there is always the possibility that, upon tilting movement of the seat back portions, the straps will be picked up by the latching pins projecting out of the back seat portions and caught in the latching mechanisms.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a rear seat arrangement of the foregoing type in which the seat back portion can be moved into a fold-away position without interferring with the seat belts. This objective is achieved in accordance with the invention in that each seat back portion is mounted for pivoting movement about an upwardly extending pivot axis provided on or near the side panel of the vehicle.